The invention relates to residential and commercial heating equipment.
A wide variety of common household and commercial appliances burn fuels, such as natural gas and propane, to generate heat, including furnaces, space heaters, hot water heaters, pool heaters, clothes dryers, ovens, stoves, etc. Such appliances utilize heat exchangers to extract heat from the combustion process, but do not harness any mechanical power from the combustion process.
Accordingly, a substantial need exists for a heating unit capable of extracting, harnessing and using both the heat and mechanical power generated by the combustion of combustible fuels.
A first aspect of the invention is a power generating heating unit. The unit includes a housing, a turbine, an electrical generator and a heat exchanger. The turbine is retained within the housing and is in fluid communication an air intake port and a fuel intake port in the housing for converting air and a combustible fuel into mechanical power and a stream of heated exhaust gas. The electrical generator is in powered communication with the turbine for converting the mechanical power generated by the turbine into electrical power. The heat exchanger is in fluid communication with the turbine and with an exhaust gas outlet port, a cold fluid intake port and a heated fluid outlet port in the housing for transferring heat from the heated exhaust gas generated by the turbine to a fluid.
In a specific embodiment, the power generating heating unit may be employed in a hot water heater. The hot water heater constructed with the power generating heating unit includes a housing, a turbine, an electrical generator, a heat exchange tube and a thermostat. The housing defines an equipment chamber and a water tank, and has several ports including (i) an air intake port in fluid communication with the equipment chamber, (ii) an exhaust gas outlet port in fluid communication with the equipment chamber, (iii) a cold water intake port in fluid communication with the water tank, (iv) a hot water outlet port in fluid communication with the water tank, and (v) a fuel intake port in fluid communication with the equipment chamber. The turbine is retained within the equipment chamber and is in fluid communication with the air intake port and the fuel intake port for converting air and a combustible fuel into mechanical power and a stream of heated exhaust gas. The electrical generator is in powered communication with the turbine for converting the mechanical power generated by the turbine into electrical power. The heat exchange tube is retained within the water tank and is in fluid communication with the turbine and the exhaust gas outlet port for transferring heat from the heated exhaust gas generated by the turbine to water retained within the water tank. The hot water heater is controlled by a thermostat which is in thermal communication with water retained within the water tank and in electrical communication with the turbine for periodically sensing the temperature of the water and automatically initiating operation of the turbine when the sensed temperature falls below a predetermined temperature.
A second embodiment of the invention is a method of generating heat and electrical power. The method includes the steps of (1) operating a turbine to generate mechanical power and a stream of heated exhaust gas, (2) converting the mechanical power to electrical power, (3) transmitting the electrical power to an electrical device for use as a power source by the electrical device, (4) transferring heat from the heated exhaust gas to a fluid so as to form a heated fluid, (5) venting the exhaust gas into the atmosphere, and (6) transmitting the heated fluid to a remote location relative to the turbine.